


orbiting you orbiting me

by orphan_account



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Dirty Jokes, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, edit: i forgot to say this when i posted it but they're in high school lawl, it's mega sillay but it was fun to write, the one where zoro wants to eviscerate a virtual turtle mascot with his two beefy hands, the working title of this was (brace for it):, yes this is self-indulgent yes this was originally meant to be under 1k what about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23024506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It’s gotten to the point that when Zoro stretched his legs out into the extra space, the hand Sanji had left on his knee slid up to his thigh and rested there, both of them paying it no mind.Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely accurate. Sanji paid it no mind. Zoro proceeded to have an out-of-body experience to cope with the way Sanji’s thumb was making small circles just off the sports logo of Zoro’s sweatpants.He probably didn’t even know he was doing it.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Sanji
Comments: 72
Kudos: 474





	orbiting you orbiting me

**Author's Note:**

> remember when i said i was working on finishing fics instead of getting hung up on perfection and then didn't post for over a year? yeah, my bad. i put off my fic wips so much that i ended up [learning how to draw](http://eastdemons.tumblr.com/tagged/userart). 
> 
> this was for a word prompt from anna [@onepiecehcs](http://onepiecehcs.tumblr.com/) on tumblr! the prompt was _'colorful'_ , and i was playing candy crush at the time. thank you for the prompt! i'm sorry i went on a tangent with it. big thanks to steph and elvy for cheerleading me on this and laughing at the dumb jokes in this. you guys are the only reason this is getting posted.
> 
> proofread by me, so all mistakes are mine. enjoy, and leave a comment with your thoughts!

Zoro isn’t the jealous type. 

Not to sound like the old man in a teenager’s body that Nami always accused him of being, but he has a good life. Good friends, a weird sort-of adoptive family, and a dream to strive for. Envy had nowhere to settle between the balance of easy contentment and his tendency of single-minded drive. 

So no, he wouldn’t say he was a jealous person. But it’s no loss to admit he is a prideful one, and when Sanji has been using him as a personal armchair for the past half an hour with eyes for nothing but his phone– well. It’s hard not to take it a little personally. 

“Your bed is way too small,” Zoro complained. It’s a ploy for attention; not the first, and from the way Sanji doesn’t even lift his head, not the last. 

Over Sanji’s shoulder, he watched him swipe something to make a whole screen of seashells explode, the game awarding the same _‘WAVE CLEARED!’_ congratulations as the past five levels. The way the colours flashed was a personal affront on Zoro’s retinas. 

“My bed size is a single, not _‘fitness-obsessed beefcake’_ ,” Sanji said, and Zoro almost groaned out loud when he tapped on the bright blue ‘Next Level’ button. “Eat less protein.” 

Zoro wrinkled his brow in indignation. “You literally threatened to confiscate my kneecaps at lunch if I didn’t scrape the pasta dish clean.” 

“And you did! Look, you still have your precious patellas.” A hand reached over to pat him on the knee. “Proud of you.” 

“Tyrant,” Zoro said, wrapping his arms around Sanji’s middle to lift him and shift them both upwards on the bed. His legs were going to seriously cramp if he didn’t move them soon. 

As expected, Sanji wriggled against the manhandling, but Zoro knew it was more token than anything. Maybe a lifetime ago, he would have gotten a knee in the gut for even trying. But after all their bickering, getting into each other’s faces, brawling back-to-back, and leaning on each other as they laughed and limped their way back home, the taboo of touch had long been forgotten.

It’s gotten to the point that when Zoro stretched his legs out into the extra space, the hand Sanji had left on his knee slid up to his thigh and rested there, both of them paying it no mind. 

Okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely accurate. Sanji paid it no mind. Zoro proceeded to have an out-of-body experience to cope with the way Sanji’s thumb was making small circles just off the sports logo of Zoro’s sweatpants. 

He probably didn’t even know he was doing it.

The unfortunate truth of it was somewhere between being two people who happened to be in the same friend group, and becoming the damage control to the trouble their friends find themselves in, Zoro discovered some troublesome... _feelings_.

Heart-thumping, ears-hot, glancing-away type of feelings.

The type of feelings that kept him awake at night thinking about if the green tea cake Sanji made not-too-sweet just for him meant anything more, or replaying how Sanji had touched his arm to get his attention, and what it meant when Zoro kept finding excuses to touch him back.

Like he said. _Troublesome._ He was losing serious sleep over this.

Sanji’s phone spasmed in bright rainbows and the squeaky in-game mascot – a bowtie-wearing turtle – chirped _‘Whaaaale done!’_ , disturbing Zoro out of his reverie. The mascot’s overly-cheery voice was a cheese grater on his nerves, and it was fast convincing him that actually? Fuck the turtles.

Annoyed at the game and annoyed at Sanji, Zoro tucked the blond head of hair under his chin and wiggled his head in a way that would make his jawbone dig into Sanji’s scalp. It wasn’t any secret that Sanji hated getting his hair messed with, judging from the way he always patted it back to shape after every tussle. Pedantic moron with his vanilla-scented conditioner. 

God, his hair was soft. 

“Weren’t we going to watch a movie?” Zoro asked, dodging the attempted headbutt. Sanji grunted. With prejudice, Zoro jabbed his foot into one of Sanji’s calves, wordlessly demanding a proper response. 

“Don’t really want to move from here anymore,” Sanji said, kicking back and starting a half-game of footsie and half-socked death match. “Ow! Fuck! You just bent my ring toe the wrong way!” 

“It’s just called the fourth toe, moron. No-one’s putting a wedding band on your fucking foot.” 

“You don’t know that. Maybe my future special someone is the type of person who will.” 

“Gross. Never say anything again.” 

Sanji pinched Zoro’s inner knee, and Zoro tried not to jerk like he got electrocuted. “Mossheads like you are why romance is dead,” he said, and swiped another rainbow-spewing combo on his phone. 

“Okay, so no movie,” Zoro muttered. Glancing around the room so he didn’t have to look at the obnoxious colours, he tried to find something else to bitch about. Honestly, he didn’t find much. 

It wasn’t just Sanji’s bed that was small, but the whole room, still unchanged from all the time Zoro has known him– and probably long before that. The downwards curve of the ceiling seemed to make the space even smaller, relieved only by the windows on the adjacent wall that let in generous light. There was a chest of drawers, a small wastebin, and a study desk with a few papers scattered across it. The room had originally been intended as a storage space, Sanji had told him, with the windows fitted only when Zeff had taken him in. 

There had been an odd half-smile when he’d said it, a little self-deprecating and a little proud. 

Happy endings, plates scraped clean, and a little space given to him that he could call his own, even if it was an ex-storage space with windows hastily fitted in afterwards. Those were the types of things that made Sanji smile. 

Also, being tickled in the stomach if Zoro remembered right. 

“Hey, do you still make a sound like a harrassed seal when someone tickles your stomach?” Zoro asked, straightening up. The hands around Sanji’s middle rucked up the shirt and flattened against the softness there. He could feel the exact moment Sanji tensed, though apparently the impending tickle threat wasn’t enough to tempt his eyes off the phone. 

“I don’t know. Does your jaw still click from when I accidentally kicked you in the mouth after you tickled me?” Sanji retorted offhandedly, and Zoro deflated. 

His jaw _did_ still click. Sanji’s kicks were a motherfucker. 

Outside of making a grab for the phone and flinging it across the room– which again, super small, so it wouldn’t be very dramatic– Zoro was out of plans. There’s something infinitely soul-crushing about competing for Sanji’s attention with a virtual bowtie turtle mascot and losing. Defeat has never hurt his retinas more. 

He’s about to settle for sulking on Sanji’s shoulder for another half hour when that bowtie turtle wheedled a smug, _“TO – TAL TIDAL WIN!”_ and Zoro’s vision went red. 

Say what you want, but there’s no way that little animated bastard wasn’t rubbing it in. 

“Hey,” Zoro said, and hates that you can hear the sulk in his voice. He didn’t really have a plan, except for getting up close to Sanji’s cheek and staring hard. Sanji made another noncommittal noise and another swipe on his phone. 

Here’s the part where Zoro gets mad, or tickles him, or makes a grab for that damn phone to execute a perfect three-pointer into the wastebin across the room. 

Except he doesn’t, because from here, he can see the golden fan of Sanji’s eyelashes, the hairs a darker shade than the ones on his stupid vanilla-scented head. From here, he can see the way his lips pout upwards, a little chapped but still sorely tempting. From here, he can see the silver blade of scar tissue on his cheekbone from when someone punched Sanji’s face so hard Zoro thought he’d been crying blood at first, until Sanji recovered and kicked back twice as hard. 

Luffy had laughed and said they matched, though when Sanji’s healed it was almost invisible, slanting downwards, unlike the clear horizontal cut under Luffy’s eye. Zoro’s a little surprised to find it was still there. Then he wondered how many people Sanji let close enough for it to be seen. 

Leaning forwards, Zoro pressed his lips to that scar, thinking that if he focused hard enough he could almost feel the angle against his mouth. 

The phone dropped to the bed as he pulled away. 

“Wh– You–” Sanji stuttered, head snapping to the side to put him nose-to-nose with Zoro. His eyes were wider than he’s ever seen them. “Did you just–” 

There’s something about the alarm that’s infectious, and the realisation of what he just did slammed into him like a freight train. “I don’t know. Did I?” Zoro shot back, feeling his throat closing up. “Maybe you should’ve been paying more attention.” 

Out of the little self-preservation left in his brain (too little, too late, a voice said in his head), Zoro began to unwind the arms around Sanji’s middle and back away. 

The hand that clamped down around his forearms made him pause, though maybe it’s more the piercing stare that Sanji gave him. There was something searching in his eyes, darting around Zoro’s cringing expression. 

“Don’t brush this off,” Sanji said sharply, just as Zoro opened his mouth to do exactly that. Zoro hunched his shoulders defensively. 

“You’re mad,” he said, bracing for the moment Sanji combusted right in front of his eyes. “I get it.” 

Sanji studied him a little longer, brow creased. “That depends,” he said finally, somewhat ominous. Whatever he had been debating inside his head seemed to have come to some sort of answer. Probably the best way to hide Zoro’s body. 

“Do it again,” Sanji said. Zoro blinked. 

“What?” he blurted, head dipping forwards in disbelief. 

Pink began to bloom across Sanji’s face, but his resolve didn’t waver. Sanji half-twisted around and grabbed the front of Zoro’s shirt like he was going to bolt out the door in the next second. “I’m trying to figure something out, alright?” he said, almost angrily. A sliver of uncertainty crept into his face then. “I’m paying attention now. So do it again. Please.” 

Zoro can count on one hand the number of times that Sanji said ‘please’ to him and meant it. He also knew that every single time, Zoro ended up doing what he’d asked for. 

So, somewhat helplessly, he leaned forwards and kissed Sanji again. Lower this time – at the edge of his mouth – bolder than his first but still not brave enough. Zoro could feel Sanji’s inhale against his cheek, the hand in his shirt clenching tighter. 

“Figured it out?” Zoro asked, speaking the words into Sanji’s skin, not daring to lean back to look at the expression on his face. An exhale whistled past Sanji’s teeth. 

“Yeah,” Sanji replied, and there’s a little bud of hope at how he hasn’t pulled away yet. “How long?” 

The back of Zoro’s neck grew warm. “I guess— Remember the time a fourth year threatened you for money and after you tripped him up, we watched him roll down that hill and into a river for like… ten seconds straight?” 

“We almost tripped ourselves when we couldn’t stop laughing,” Sanji finished with a grin. Despite himself, Zoro huffed a laugh. “Wow. Since then? That’s embarrassing for you.” 

“Shut up!” 

“Still,” Sanji continued, making to move out of Zoro’s grasp. His chest tightened with apprehension, but Zoro let his arms loosen, only to watch Sanji kneel between his legs and comb both his hands into Zoro’s hair. “Not as long as me.” 

He could have passed out with relief at the admission. Instead, Zoro made a face. “What is this, a competition?” 

Covering Zoro’s goofy expression with a hand and pushing away, Sanji huffed in annoyance. “You’re so irritating!” he accused, jerking his hand away when Zoro – epitome of maturity – licked it. “Not what I was trying to say and you know it.” 

“How long has it been for you?” Zoro asked, settling his hands on Sanji’s waist. This didn’t feel like stealing warmth and lingering touches under the guise of being just friends anymore. This felt like his. 

“Not sure,” Sanji answered, and interrupted when Zoro was about to protest. “I’m not just saying that! For me it was like… only realising I fell for you when I was already flat on my back.” 

The gigantic grin on Zoro’s face didn’t even cover half the supernova his heart was threatening to become. “Oh? That’s embarrassing for you,” he teased, and laughed at the middle finger Sanji flipped right in his face. 

“Okay, wiseass. If you’re so fucking smart, tell me this,” Sanji challenged. “Why now?” 

That wiped the grin right off Zoro’s face. He didn’t know how to answer this without sounding like an ill-tempered cat slapping things off a table. “Oh. Uh.” 

Sanji looked at him expectantly. Zoro’s eyes slid off to the side. 

“I guess I wasn’t really thinking– hey, shut up,” Zoro replied, indignant when Sanji snorted. “You were so busy playing your stupid fucking seashell game, and I just wanted to do literally anything else.” He stuck his chin out. “Don’t know what’s so interesting about that shitty turtle anyways.” 

He could feel Sanji’s disbelieving stare on the side of his face, and readied himself for the upcoming mortification. He only looked Sanji in the eyes when two hands came up to tilt his chin back. 

“Holy shit,” Sanji gaped. “Did I hear that right? Was Roronoa fucking Zoro–” 

“Don’t–” 

“ _–jealous?_ Were you jealous of my phone?” Sanji’s hands pinched his cheeks and stretched his face with glee. 

“Fuck you,” Zoro said, or tried to say, but with his stretched face it sounded more like ‘fuhff hyou’. 

“I’m savoring this,” Sanji announced, releasing his grip on Zoro’s face to place them over his heart. “No spice in the world comes close to this sweet, sweet moment. I’m breathing it in, mosshead.” 

“Whatever, you Food Network freak,” he snarked back, tackling Sanji and flipping their positions over. Sanji let out a surprised _‘oof’_ , blond hair rumpling against the bedcover. “Let’s go back to the part where you were talking about being flat on your back. I liked that bit.” 

Sanji looked up at him with exaggerated concern. “Woah. Nami really was onto something when she said you were a dirty old man in a teenager’s body.” 

“She never said anything about _‘dirty’_! You’re the one with your head in the gutter all the time!” 

“Well, it’s not like it helps that _someone_ here won’t stop grabbing me whenever he feels like it! Falling asleep with your head in my fucking crotch is not a productive study activity!” 

“You didn’t wake me up though,” Zoro pointed out, and the way Sanji’s outraged mouth clicked shut made his lips curve up. “You could have, but you didn’t. Because you had a C-R-U-S-H–” 

“So did you! Idiot!” Sanji said, flushing. Zoro watched the flush glow on his ears and crawl down his throat. He chased it down at the junction of Sanji’s shoulder with a kiss. “Idiot,” Sanji said again, quieter and fonder, scratching his nails against Zoro’s scalp when he braced over Sanji to kiss the shell of a burning ear as well. 

Thumbing the line of Sanji’s cheekbone, Zoro was quiet for awhile. The hands in his hair had slid down to his nape, Sanji loosely knitting his fingers together. “I haven’t actually kissed anyone before,” Zoro admitted. “Like, on the mouth.” 

Sanji stared at him. “Oh.” 

“Yeah.” 

“That’s fine. I mean,” Sanji started, tongue flicking out to wet his bottom lip, and then flushing when Zoro’s eyes followed the movement. “We can practice. If you want. We have the whole afternoon.” 

“The whole afternoon,” Zoro repeated, heat curling low in his gut. “Zeff is out, right?” 

“Dirty old man! Dirty, perverted old man!” Sanji exclaimed, and Zoro couldn’t even bring himself to feel embarrassed. “Nothing below the belt or Zeff is going to butcher your balls.” 

“Please,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He’d congratulate us both.” 

“When did you get so bold? I’m supposed to be the horndog here.” 

“You’re still the horndog here. I’m just not hiding anything anymore,” Zoro said, sliding his hand under Sanji’s shirt and dragged his nails up his stomach. “I’m allowed to do this now, right?” 

Sanji shivered at the sensation. “Yeah,” he breathed. “If I’m honest, you’ve been allowed for a pretty long time now.” 

“Well, what the fuck have we been waiting for then?” Zoro said, quiet and hungry and wondrous. Dipping down with no second thought for his inexperience, he pressed his mouth against Sanji’s, a thrill going through him when those lips parted. 

It’s strange, knowing each other the way they do and fumbling their way through their first kiss. It’s messy, and awkward, and their teeth get in the way, and Zoro is fucking exhilirated. He came back for seconds, and thirds, and Sanji met him in the middle for every single one, just as eager for the contact. Even the wrong moments are savored, because it meant figuring out the rightness of how they fit together afterwards, their old familiarity finding itself in this new thing. 

Zoro only stopped when Sanji pushed him back, flushed and out of breath. 

“Was I that bad?” he asked. His fingers twitched to pry off the other hand that was covering Sanji’s face, hungry for the expression underneath as well. What did he look like, after Zoro had kissed every moment of want he had to hide before into his mouth? “Show me your face.” 

“It was fine. More than fine,” Sanji said, and Zoro saw a dark blush seep under a gap in the fingers. “Just give me a moment.” 

“I thought you were the one who’d kissed before, between the two of us,” Zoro teased, his own face warm but pleased. 

“Not with you,” Sanji groaned. “It’s different when it’s with you. I feel like a billion exclamation marks in a vague human shape right now.” 

Zoro grinned, still a little breathless. “What’s with that?” He kissed the hand covering Sanji’s face, coaxing Sanji out of hiding. “Have you changed your mind about it being above the belt?” 

“It’s your balls on the line,” Sanji said, and Zoro snorted a laugh out. He’s not disappointed. Zoro was sure he could kiss Sanji until the sky fell down around them and he’d still never tire of it. 

Leaning into the hand that curled against his cheek, he felt Sanji run his thumb against his reddened lips, kissing it before it drew away. 

“Hey,” Sanji said. 

“Hey yourself,” Zoro said, lowering himself to press his forehead against Sanji’s. Closing his eyes, Zoro lowered his voice. “I need to tell you something.” 

The hand against his face stilled. “Oh.” Sanji paused. “What is it?” 

Taking a steadying breath, Zoro drew back slightly to look into Sanji’s eyes. There’s a little pinch of worry between the brow. He smoothed it out with his fingers, along with sweeping the one-sided drape of blond hair back. What he wanted to say needed to be said fully face-to-face. 

“I hope this doesn’t break us up,” Zoro said, completely straight-faced. “But ring toe or not, I am never putting a wedding band on your fucking foot.” 

  
*** * * * ***

  


There’s two knocks on the door before it opened. 

“I just got home and heard a real loud noise from up here,” Zeff said, sticking his head into Sanji’s room. “You better not be breaking anything, baby eggplant.” 

Noticing the shaking mass on the floor, Zeff stared at Zoro spasming with silent laughter. “Hey, kid. Do I need to call the ambulance?” 

“The only thing I’m breaking is this fucking clown who thinks he’s a goddamn comedian,” Sanji gritted out, sitting up on his bed. “The ambulance is optional.” 

“Your face,” Zoro wheezed from the floor, failing to start another coherent sentence when he dissolved into another fit of laughter. Zeff can see tears streaming out of his eyes. 

“Is he going to be alive for dinner?” he asked, looking back to Sanji. 

“Not if I can help it,” Sanji said, before whacking Zoro with his pillow. “IT WASN’T THAT FUNNY, YOU FUCKING SHITHEAD. STOP LAUGHING ALREADY.” 

“I’ll cook extra,” Zeff said, making to retreat out of the room before stopping. He stuck his head back into the room. “Congratulations on finally getting your heads out of your asses, you shitty brats,” he said, leaning back out and closing the door behind him.

Even then, it wasn’t hard to hear the triumphant crow of _‘I TOLD YOU SO!’_ and the _‘thump!’_ of a responding pillow to the face.

**Author's Note:**

> rest in peace, zoro. you died doing what you loved best: clowning the fuck out of sanji. legend that we will never forget.
> 
> years into the future when zoro finally gets an engagement ring, he says, "btw babe, this goes on your hand" and he has to propose a second time (after he stops laughing) because sanji straight up walked away from the first for that joke alone.
> 
> catch me [@eastdemons](http://eastdemons.tumblr.com/) on tumblr! sometimes i do art, jingle my jester hat, and post snippets of fic wips. [this fic has a post on tumblr](https://eastdemons.tumblr.com/post/611739173254234112/fic-orbiting-you-orbiting-me-pairings) if you want to support it there!


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